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7:49 am today

One in five trans and non-binary people threatened with physical violence

7:49 am today

Murphy, Digital Journalist

Josh McNally. Photographed in the Waitākere Ranges.

Josh McNally Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Warning: This story discusses assault, anti-trans violence, self harm, suicide and sexual violence.

Almost one in five trans and non-binary** New Zealanders were threatened with physical violence because of their gender identity in the past four years.

Close to one in 10 (8 percent) experienced deliberate physical violence.

It's the first time a clear picture of violence against these communities has come to light, with the release of a major new report into the health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary New Zealanders.

Alongside high levels of violence and discrimination faced by trans and non-binary people, the second Counting Ourselves* survey reveals "alarmingly high" rates of psychological distress and suicidality, and persistent significant healthcare inequities.

Researchers say it is now an emergency situation and urgent action is needed.

Counting Ourselves is an anonymous health survey designed by and for trans and non-binary people, led by Dr Jaimie Veale, Principal Investigator and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Waikato. The first survey was carried out in 2018. The latest report is based on responses to the second survey in 2022 of 2631 trans and non-binary people.

"You lot should be killed"

Josh NcNally (Ngāi Tahu) feels like there's been a significant increase in anti-trans sentiment in the past year, both here in Aotearoa and internationally.

"I'm fearful for the safety of trans people… and the potential for acts of violence," they say.

"I fear that a trans person is going to be killed."

Throughout their life Josh has received threats of physical violence, faced attempts of physical violence and experienced deliberate physical violence because they are trans.

"There was an incident where I was walking home [from school] through the center of town, and two or three girls effectively jumped me and assaulted me in public," Josh says.

It was the first time he realised that some people fear difference.

At university, Josh was physically assaulted by another student because he is trans.

The fear of violence and discrimination affects every area of trans and non-binary people's lives, Counting Ourselves co-principal investigator Jack Byrne says. "At home, at school, playing sport, applying for jobs, or just being in public spaces."

"What we consistently find is that trans people experience violence at rates much higher than the general population."

Data released to RNZ under the Official Information Act found the year after the Counting Ourselves survey took place, reports of hate crimes against trans people motivated by gender jumped 42 percent, spiking the month anti-trans campaigner Posie Parker visited the country.

Jade Musther Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Jade Musther was walking through central Wellington one summer's afternoon when she noticed a man looking at her as he passed by. He had said something as he kept walking but Jade didn't quite hear him. She turned around.

"You lot should be killed."

He was only 10 metres away but he was loud, shouting so she would hear him. It would have been hard for others to have missed it too.

Suddenly Jade was hyper aware of her surroundings, listening out in case he came up behind her.

It's hard to reconcile that kind of hatred, she says.

Jade has had numerous threats of physical violence from people yelling things at her on the street.

"There's the point where the transphobic slur or the homophobic slur becomes a threat. The difference between just calling out slurs for no apparent reason, at you for sure, but not with any sort of connected action, and then that can escalate to the point where it's kind of a direct or indirect threat, something like 'You should be killed'…or 'I'm gonna' [kill you]," she says.

Jack Byrne says the levels of physical violence against trans and non-binary people in the past four years is "very concerning" but unfortunately "not surprising".

One in four trans women experienced threats of physical violence in the past four years, Counting Ourselves found. Trans women and disabled people were more likely to have experienced threats, attempts and deliberate acts of violence because of their gender identity.

"Misinformation about trans people, especially trans women, legitimises hate and violence," Jack says.

"Naming and measuring the different forms of violence directed at trans people is vital to counter misinformation, to stand up for trans people's right to safety, and to push for legal and policy changes to better protect trans people from violence and discrimination."

Jade says she experiences verbal discrimination so often that in some ways it has become a normal part of her life. "I think that a lot of the time when things become normalised the impacts become harder to see.

"You're existing in a space of discrimination as a minority, and the effects of that discrimination become more and more complex and therefore harder just to point out and say this incident happened. "

Counting Ourselves found people who had been discriminated against for being trans or non-binary in the past 12 months were more than twice as likely to have attempted suicide during that period than participants who did not report this.

On more than one occasion Jade has found her life at risk while out riding her bike.

It's hard to miss Jade when she's riding around town - a large pride flag laps in the capital's winds behind her.

So she says there's no way a truck driver wouldn't see her on the side of a road.

"I was biking up Brooklyn Hill… up Happy Valley Road, quite down near the bottom end, near Ōwhiro Bay, [when] one of the quarry trucks that goes up there ran me off the road.

"It was passing me, there was plenty of room because there was an empty parking strip which was what I was biking through, and the guy pulled further and further left as he was passing me."

She was forced off the road and fell over the gutter into the footpath, lucky to not be injured.

"I'm fairly sure he wasn't trying to kill me, but he could have done… I think that's an attempt at physical violence."

'Urgent action is needed'

In 2022, 2631 trans and non-binary people aged between 14 and 86 took part in the Counting Ourselves Survey, more than double the number who had participated four years prior.

Critically, the latest research has found increasing significant mental health inequities faced by these communities.

More than three quarters (77 percent) of trans and non-binary people reported high or very high psychological distress - six times that of the general population and up from 71 percent in 2018. In the last year, more than half had seriously considered suicide, while one in 10 had attempted it.

More than two in five reported sexual violence or attempted sexual violence - more than double the general population rate.

The data suggests we're now an "emergency situation", Gender Minorities Aotearoa executive director Ahi Wi-Hongi says.

"We really need to to put funding and put other resourcing around trans people and make sure that there are ways for trans people to be safe. Trans people should get to be safe in society in the regular way that everyone should be safe in society."

Counting Ourselves principal investigator Jaimie Veale says since 2022, "there has been increasing international backlash against trans rights, with misinformation influencing public debates".

"In Aotearoa, healthcare access remains precarious, mental health services are stretched thin, and we continue to hear trans and non-binary people reporting discrimination, harassment, and violence in daily life.

"I think our findings make it clear that urgent action is needed across multiple areas to improve the health and wellbeing of trans and non-binary people in Aotearoa."

Since the data was collected, the political landscape both in New Zealand and internationally has shifted dramatically.

The US and UK have introduced a raft of policies targeting trans people.

Here in New Zealand the coalition government opened public consultation on puberty blockers in gender affirming care and signalled its intention to consider regulating them.

Sports Minister Chris Bishop has asked Sport New Zealand to review and update its guidelines on the inclusion of transgender people in community sport.

And the government is planning to rewrite the relationships and sexuality education curriculum for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Ahi says the government needs to act to make positive changes for trans and non-binary communities.

"I would like to see trans people treated the same as everyone else in society, the same right to healthcare, the same level of access to housing and just the same human rights protections."

Josh McNally Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Josh has complex post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the violence he has experienced.

"When things ramp up like they have this year, I'm way more on edge than I was before.

"It's really unhealthy to be in that fight or flight response constantly," they say.

"The Waitākere [Ranges] is my safe space. When I go out swimming under a waterfall everything melts away because there's power in Te Taiao and the whenua and I think that's what grounds me and keeps me well.

"[It] recharges me to be able to step back into the world and go ok, what can I do to create positive change, or do something positive for a trans person that might be being scared or how can I help others find a bit of balance or security in times that are actually really uncertain?"

Josh was still in high school when he left his home in a small rural South Island town with the hope he would find safety, and his people, in Auckland.

"I realised I was no longer safe where I was so I had to make the decision, where can I go?… I have to find my people because my people aren't here."

Counting Ourselves found 16 percent of participants had moved cities or towns to feel safer as a trans or non-binary person.

"Being 17 in Auckland, trying to make adult decisions, you go into survival mode," Josh says. "So I was rough sleeping, I bounced from place to place just [to] get a hot meal, a shower or whatever, and I spent most of my 20s just doing that, just trying to survive."

The consequences of this have played out in their adult life, they say.

Josh was a teenager attempting to navigate systems that were failing him - he didn't have an address so couldn't access financial support, struggled to find work because he hadn't finished school and was dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic event without any support.

When they did find what they thought was safe housing, they faced discrimination and had to leave. When they found work, they were bullied for being trans.

Josh's experience of homelessness is not uncommon - almost one in five trans and non-binary New Zealanders have been homeless. It's a statistic that hasn't shifted since 2018. For Māori Counting Ourselves participants, the number is even higher (31 percent).

Josh faced housing instability up until their early 30s when in their final year of an undergraduate degree they finally found a safe place to live.

A couple of years ago he finished a Masters in Social Work and hopes to continue helping his communities navigate the uncertainties of life.

"If I can help someone along their journey and walk alongside them and uphold their mana and who they are and help them find out who they are or where they fit, where they belong. If I can help one person, that's enough because one person can change another person's life.

"I think my transness has given me the resilience to be able to go through all of the things that have been horrible and come out the other side with the hope that things are getting better.

"My hope really, would be the acceptance that trans people deserve a place in this world, we deserve equal healthcare, we deserve gender affirming care and my hope is really that people will acknowledge that trans kids know themselves.

"We need to trust in our rangatahi, they know themselves."

Recommendations

Whakapapa

Develop resources and programmes that help people understand and celebrate gender diversity.

Wairua

Fund accessible community spaces where people can feel safe enough to be themselves, embracing their takatāpui, MVPFAFF+, rainbow, trans, or non-binary identities.
Protect and support trans and non-binary people who have experienced attempts by others to change or suppress their gender identity or expression.

Mauri

Ensure health, education, housing, and other services treat trans and non-binary people with respect and understanding, and respond to trans and non-binary people's needs.
Enable all trans and non-binary people living in Aotearoa New Zealand to legally change their gender and name through a simple self-identification process.

Mana

Provide clear and transparent pathways to access gender affirming healthcare based on informed consent through the public health system, so people can get care quickly, no matter where they live in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Recognise and support trans and non-binary community leadership in decision-making and delivery of trans health services.
Share accurate information to counter harmful myths about trans and non-binary people through evidence-based resources about the inherent dignity of takatāpui, trans, and non-binary people and the importance of gender affirming healthcare.

Tapu

Make all types of gender affirming healthcare more available through the public health system.
Protect trans and non-binary people from violence including through anti-violence strategies, policies, guidelines, training, and services.
Include trans and non-binary people as a priority, alongside other takatāpui/rainbow people, in mental health and addiction policies and programmes.

Tikanga

Fully protect trans and non-binary people from discrimination and harassment.
Provide training and resources about trans and non-binary people's health needs to healthcare workers.

* The Counting Ourselves survey reported findings from 2631 trans and non-binary people, from all regions in New Zealand, who completed the survey in 2022. Participants were aged from 14 to 86. Most were either youths aged 14-24 (53%) or adults aged 25-54 (43%). Over half (56%) of participants were non-binary, with an equal mix of trans men (22%) and trans women (22%).

** Trans and non-binary are the umbrella terms used in the Counting Ourselves survey but people may use a range of other terms to describe their gender identity. Some people may identify with both of these words.

Where to get help:

Need to Talk? Free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason.
Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155.
OUTLine: 0800 688 5463.
Lifeline: 0800 543 354 or text HELP to 4357.
Suicide Crisis Helpline: 0508 828 865 / 0508 TAUTOKO. This is a service for people who may be thinking about suicide, or those who are concerned about family or friends.
Depression Helpline: 0800 111 757 or text 4202.
Samaritans: 0800 726 666.
Youthline: 0800 376 633 or text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz.
What's Up: 0800 WHATSUP / 0800 9428 787. This is free counselling for 5 to 19-year-olds.
Asian Family Services: 0800 862 342 or text 832. Languages spoken: Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and English.
Rural Support Trust Helpline: 0800 787 254.
Healthline: 0800 611 116.